Since the beginning of history, man has hunted animals for food to live and to utilize other parts for clothing and other essential reasons. Today, men still hunt animals for food and sport. The overall sport of hunting has increased in popularity because of the challenge and enjoyment of outdoor life and has become a major industry in the United States. Some hunters or naturalists will just walk through the forest; however, this limits the wildlife they will see due to either noise or visualization due to vegetation. Many hunters or naturalist would opt for a tree stand when the forest or vegetation canopy is high; thereby enabling the hunter or naturalist to position himself at or near the top of the canopy, for optimum concealment and visualization.
Alternatively, when ground cover or brush is high, a hunter or naturalist may opt for a ladder stand to position himself slightly above the ground cover for maximum concealment and optimal visibility. Art is replete with numerous climbing and elevated support devices for elevating the position of the hunter or the naturalist in the field. For example, some of the known devices include tree stands, which encompass two general varieties, climbing and non-climbing, both of which suspend the hunter or naturalist at a desired height, and secure solely to a tree; climbing tree stands include all stands that do not require any form of ladder while non-climbing includes all forms that require some form of ladder to enter the stand. Non-climbing stands commonly include lock on stands with ladder sticks that attach directly to the tree, ladder stands, which elevate the hunter or naturalist to a maximum height relative to the length of the ladder both of, which require the assistance of a tree for support and securement; and tripods, which do not require the assistance of a tree for support, yet which elevate the hunter or naturalist relative to the ground.
Various additional designs for tree stands are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,995,475 to R. Berkbuegler and 4,997,063 to R. Bradley. Each of these patents demonstrates a pair of pivoting support arms having adjustable lengths. In each patent, a rotatable sleeve serving as a turnbuckle is provided in order to selectively shorten or lengthen the respective arms. Each of these designs employs a ridged bracket rather than a flexible cable around the tree. In addition, each of these designs requires that adjustments to the arms be made substantially simultaneously in order to prevent the tree stand from becoming unlevel or “out of horizontal.”
Another prior art reference, namely U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,506 to Womack teaches a pair of threaded rods captured between corresponding opposed threaded lugs on each side of stand. Each rod has a threaded nut disposed thereon. Rotation of each threaded rod by a knob thereon results in an adjustment of the position of tree engaging blades. In this way, different tree diameters are accommodated. The device taught by the U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,506 to Womack thus requires adjustment of a threaded rod on each side of the stand in order to adjust the positioning and level of the stand uniformly.
Still another prior art reference, namely United States Patent Application Publication No. 20060169538 to Louk, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,021,423 to Pestrue et al. and 8,230,972 to Johnson teach numerous other tree stand devices. Unfortunately, all of the aforementioned prior art references fail to provide a tree stand that will enable the hunter or naturalist to easily, comfortably and quietly change from a seated position to a standing position, or vice-versa, while also providing an adjustable implement rest for an accessory such as a gun, bow, telescope, or the like. In addition, the aforementioned prior art references also fail to provide a tree stand that is fully adjustable to accommodate any angle or length the hunter would need for just the right shot and offer additional support and safety in the archery position. Moreover, these prior art forms reference stands with shoot rails which are not adjustable to accommodate different shooting or viewing situations.
There is an opportunity for an improved tree stand assembly to enable the hunter or naturalist to easily, comfortably and quietly change from a seated position to a standing position, or vice-versa, while also providing an adjustable implement rest for an accessory such as a gun, bow, telescope while being fully adjustable to accommodate any angle or length the hunter or naturalist would need for just the right shot or view while offering additional support and safety in the standing position for either archery or general viewing.